The compound, 6.alpha.,9.alpha.-difluoro-11.beta.,17,21-trihydroxy-16.beta.-methylpregna -1,4-diene-3,20-dione (10) and the 21-acetate are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,158, and are described as possessing anti-inflammatory properties.
A variety of steroid compounds have found use as local or topical anti-inflammatory agents. These are usefully administered to man and animals in convenient pharmaceutical forms such as creams, lotions, ointments, solutions, suspensions, drops, aerosols, dusting powders, suppositories and the like and cause reduction of the inflammatory process in situ for example in skin disorders, being used to control corticosteroid-responsive dermatoses such as psoriasis, eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, providing symptomatic relief.
A somewhat anomalous reduction in effectiveness in open or non-occluded application as compared with occluded applications is characteristic of most of the prior corticosteroids used as above as topical anti-inflammatory agents. Hence, to realize the full potential of most prior anti-inflammatory corticosteroids on the skin, the inconvenience of occluded application is commonly used despite the increased effort, the difficulty of wrapping the affected area and restrictive effect of the occluded application upon the patient.